Valdres March, Johannes Hanssen

The Edina High School Concert Band, Paul Kile, Director
Valdres is one of the most famous marches ever composed. The fact that it is evocative and expressive of its land of birth, Norway, is also significant. While march enthusiasts have typically been drawn to the vastly larger and better known repertoires of the United States, Germany, England, and Spain, Valdres remains a greatly loved petite Norwegian tone-poem in march time. Its composer, Johann Hanssen, began his career as a tenor-horn player in the Oslo Military Band in 1900. In 1903-1904, he composed Valdres.
The opening tune (played in this edition by the clarinet or cornet) is a bugle call from the Valdres Battalion; Valdres is a valley is southern Norway. The second subject is an old tune for hardanger-fiddle; the trio is a pentatonic tune based upon Norwegian folk music.
This new edition collates the various versions that Johannes Hanssen created throughout his many years as conductor and composer. In his later years, he adapted the opening tune for clarinet solo, as it also appears in his adaptation for full symphony orchestra. Conductors will also note that I have brought the orchestration “indoors” from the parade ground and the street. These changes reflect both Hanssen’s various other versions for concert band and for orchestra.